What are the Biggest Trends in Interior Design Right Now?

It can be hard to keep up with the times. What’s in now may be out next year — so designing your living space by trend can be dangerous. We spoke to interior designers at three firms, and they all agree that you should shape your space around what you love rather than what’s popular — so don’t plan a full home makeover based on that new TikTok trend. However, if you have your heart set on a recent trend you saw online, you don’t need to deny yourself a design choice just because you’re in search of timeless décor. They also gave us tips on how to integrate trends into a space without going overboard.

Read on to learn more about the hottest home decor trends right now — and about how you can seamlessly incorporate them at home.

We are living through a bonified wallpaper renaissance according to Mary Flo Ouellette and Steven Santosuosso of Squarehouse Studios, an interior design studio in Somerville, MA. “Wallpaper fell out of fashion for a while where it became this antiquated thing, probably because a lot of the designs were just antiquated,” says Santosuosso. While it used to be relegated to the powder room, wallpaper is now appearing all over — with new, maximalist patterns driving the resurgence. If you saw the zebra wallpaper in Imani Keal’s apartment tour, then you know what we’re talking about. An easy renter-friendly way to test out this look in your apartment is with peel-and-stick wallpaper, which you can put up and remove yourself. If done correctly, it will leave no damage to the paint.  

If you have the peel-and-stick wallpaper and contact paper ready, hold on a second. While wood cabinetry can look dated (hence the desire to peel-and-stick all over it), it’s actually having a comeback. “People are going back to wood cabinets and kitchens,” Ouellette says. “No more paint; people are interested in retaining wood cabinets again.”

Joanna Gaines may have tried to claim shiplap as her own, but paneled walls have expanded far past her grasp. Textured walls have historically been popular (no, HGTV didn’t invent them), says Nikki Dalrymple of ACQUIRE Boutique, a design firm in Boston — but a new contemporary iteration has recently hit the design scene. “Clients are really liking the look of ribbed panel walls,” she says. “Rather than having a flat wall, we’re creating this ribbed detail that goes across the wall [with a wood panel].”

We’ve seen renters have success with DIY versions of this look, by adhering renter-friendly moldings or panels to their walls.

The Pantone color of the year was peach fuzz, a warm pastel shade that brings a serious ‘70s nostalgia vibe. While fashion is all about Y2K right now, design trends move in slower cycles, according to Lindsay Joyce, of New York–based firm 3F Living which she co-owns with her husband Tomek Gil — so it’s not surprising that we’re reaching a few decades further back in style with our apartments. Joyce is a fan of the peach color palette she’s been seeing, but offers a modern twist on incorporating the color to avoid looking dated: “I’m seeing more of those [color] moments captured in stone. Two or three years ago, everyone was very big into mixing metals, but now it's more about bringing a colorful stone into your side tables, your coffee table, the base of your dining table.”

If you’re not quite ready to commit to furniture, then one easy way to incorporate the color into your living room is through easily changeable accessories like throw blankets or pillows and linens.  

Midcentury modern design has more than had its moment; it’s all but completely taken over interior design. Characterized by organic silhouettes, its use of nature-inspired natural materials like teak, and creative aesthetics, the interior design style has withstood the test of time in American home design since its introduction in the 1940s. One way it is rearing its head now is in couch design. Joyce points out that curved sofas — a big departure from the traditional sectional or straight-backed three-seater — is huge right now. Her advice for someone who’s into the trend but wary of diving in headfirst? “Get it in a neutral color. Don't go for the purple or the pink because although it's super cool and on point right now, it's not something that you'll be able to move through the course of the next few years with,” she says. So, in other words, spring for the taupe or cream couch, then, refer to our tip above for having fun with the accent pieces like throw pillows and textiles. Or, if you’re married to the idea of the colored upholstery, try to look for earth tones you can incorporate elsewhere to balance the look.

Another nod to MCM, fluting on furniture is a fun way to incorporate texture to otherwise simple pieces. All the way from custom furniture to pieces picked up at retailers like Anthropologie, Ouellette is seeing fluting all over. It brings visual interest while not being too eye-catching, the best of both worlds, whether you believe in maximalism or minimalism.

Social media has certainly played a hand in democratizing art and the art world — and we’re seeing the effects trickle down all the way to what people choose to hang on their walls, according to Ouellette. “People are definitely more into the process of finding pieces that are locally sourced” rather than ordering a print on an online marketplace like Amazon or Minted right now, she says. “There's artists of all price ranges so we really like to try and find somebody that a client would like, and people get really excited about that.”